Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: euming@mrcnext.uiuc.edu (Lee Eu-Ming)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Whistling bombs
Message-ID: <1991Feb18.061743.14635@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 18 Feb 91 06:17:43 GMT
References: <1991Feb12.020147.11646@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb15.072951.12211@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 24
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: euming@mrcnext.uiuc.edu (Lee Eu-Ming)
denbeste@spdcc.com (Steven Den Beste) writes:
>On the rear of the bomb, between the fins, there was a small propeller which
>would spin in the air as the bomb dropped. It was connected to a small
>generator which charged up a capacitor, which was then used as the power source
>for the fuse.

I've seen simliar propellers on the bombs dropped by Allied planes during
the brief action shots shown on CNN.  An important fact, though, is that
most modern strike aircraft (F/A-18, F-16, A10, but _not_ the F-117 or
B-52G/H) carry the bombs outside of the fuselage, i.e. where it is exposed
to the airstream.  If books like 'Flight of the Intruder' are to be believed,
there is a wire attached to the airplane that runs through the propeller
mechanism that prevents the thing from rotating.  When the bomb is dropped
from the airplane, the wire slips out, allowing the propeller to spin.
There was a great closeup of the ground crews, and they definitely were
threading a wire through the bomb while getting the plane ready for a sortie.
Now, the question is wether or not the propellers were designed to make
noise... the answer, I believe is that they were not.  On the other hand, I
thought that most bombs (certainly the 500 lb unguided and perhaps the
laser guided Paveway) were impact fused or carried enough juice to not need
a propeller...